Windows Mobile 6.5: Microsoft’s Cunning Plan?

Peter Judge,

So far, Microsoft has screwed up on mobile. Will a hyped interim release, and a small, expensive appstore help against the iPhone?

In the meantime, Mobile 6.5 will launch on a variety of smartphones by 6 Oct. These include ones manufactured by HTC and Sony Ericsson, – although HTC has reportedly decidedto move key phones over to Google Android.

Beating Apple’s App Store… by charging more?

Given the increasing importance of an application ecosystem, Microsoft has focused much of its attention on ensuring that Mobile 6.5 launches with around 600 apps.

The company has been encouraging developers to create applications for Windows Marketplace, its competitor to Apple’s App Store – but is obviously starting from way behind. ‘The App Store has more than 50,000 apps, and recently passed the 2-billion-download mark, and both Android and Nokia Ovi have more apps.

Microsoft has been wooing developers with promises of higher margins than they generally get with the App Store, where many of the apps are priced at either 99 cents or free.

“We would definitely want to promote that you make more money selling applications than selling your application in a dollar store,” Loke Uei, senior technical product manager for Microsoft’s Mobile Developer Experience Team, told mobile application developers in Redmond, Wash. on 19 Aug. “But 99 cents, come on, I think your app is worth more than that.”

In a discussion with eWEEK, a Microsoft spokesperson suggested that applications for the Marketplace would generally sell for between $0.99 and $29.99. Its competitors, such as Research In Motion’s BlackBerry App World, have set a floor of $2.99 for their paid applications.

Mobile 6.5 will provide added functionality over its predecessors in the apps department, with built-in Flash support and widgets capable of being manipulated using a multitouch interface.

According to Microsoft executives, Mobile 6.5 will boast improved touch capabilities, including the ability to tap, pan and flick in order to navigate through screens; it will feature a new version of Internet Explorer Mobile, for desktop-style page rendering on the smartphone; and the ability to back up and sync data.